Quick Ferment?

[John Sand]

Once again, I need beer!
I have an experiment on tap, and a recipe I've made before, but neither is very good. The only thing I have on standby is Pumpkin Spice, I don't think it's ready yet. Neither am I, it's still September.
So what can I brew that will be ready quickly? I'm not fond of wheat beer, which I know is good young. My best IPA recipe is a Pliny Clone, but it takes 4 weeks in the bucket, then a while in the keg before it tastes more like beer than grapefruit juice. So what is your quick turnaround brew? No more than two weeks would be nice.

[berryman]

I know you said you aren't fond of wheat beers, but a hef or a lower gravity wheat will give you a fast turn around time/faster from the fermenter to time to drink then most anything else, is the best deal to get fast beer.

[Kealia]

I keg everything in two weeks and brew mostly 1.045 - 1.058 beers. I can share a pale ale recipe or two if you like but a simple pale ale should be done fermenting in 5-10 days depending on gravity and pitch rate.

Oooh, check out the Simply Simarillo recipe in the advanced section. Brew the session version and it will be tasty and ready very quickly.

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[Beer-lord]

I pretty much stick to about 3 weeks but have kegged in 2 however, with 3 kegs on tap usually all the time, 3 weeks works for me pretty well. 1 1/2 fermenting, 1 week dry hopping (if needed) and 2-3 days cold crashing. How fast the keg gets enjoyed depends on space in the kegerator but I use the slow method of carbing and usually enjoy them 1-2 weeks later.
The quickest I ever went from brew to keg is 10 or 11 days drinking it 5 days later. I feel 3 weeks is the sweet spot for my beers as they are very drinkable as soon as they carb up.

[mashani]

An English mild as long as you pitch enough yeast is ready to drink right out of the fermenter if you don't mind it being like a mostly flat gravity pour (this is not "wrong" btw, it's perfectly ok to drink a mild that way). A mild should have fully fermented out in 3-4 days if you pitch enough yeast. Any yeast yucky stuff will be fully cleaned up in 7-10 days. Just give it a little taste and see if it has any off flavors, but by then it should not.

If you keg it, as soon as it's carbed to your liking you can drink it. And it doesn't require much carb to be to style, so it doesn't take long.

But honestly most of my beers are drinkable these days out of my fermenters at 14 days. Even the 9% Belgians I've been making have been amazingly good out of the fermenter. It's only because I bottle prime them and I'm an acetaldehyde super taster that I wait for a week after its carbed. If I kegged them I could drink them all really soon.

The key is pitching a lot of yeast. I have been pitching at what this calculator calls "Pro Brewer 1.0 or 1.25" rates. Note that this is way more then Mr. Malty says (anywhere from 60 billion to 100+ billion cells more). But it works and makes great beer for the most part - exception would be a few styles where you want lots of banana esters.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitc ... alculator/

[Beer-lord]

I'm also an over pitcher of yeast but it's because I keep so much on hand.

[John Sand]

Thanks guys. I think I'll try an APA with only a little crystal and plenty of yeast. I might be able to have tight temperature control too, as I just bought a small fridge off craigslist.

[Dawg LB Steve]

A simple Blond Ale or SMaSH. I did a SMaSH Maris Otter and Liberty that went grain to glass in 2.5 weeks. Just under 2 weeks fermenting and rest force carbonating. Can probably push it sooner with a 30 lb CO2 for 2 days and drop to serving pressure .

[John Sand]

Thanks Steve. I usually carb them warm for a few days, then in the fridge. But I'm not usually in a hurry, so this time I might do the high start.

[MrBandGuy]

I can also turn an English bitter around in 7-10 days. Small beers with S-04.


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[RandyG]

Let me ask you this. I see lots of you keg your brews.I bottle mine and it's usually 49 days from grain to glass,or 1st pour. My question is ,if I ferment for 3 weeks,and feel that fermentation is over,can I carb the beer from a 5 liter mini-keg using co2 cartridges w/o using carbing sugar in the keg? This would give me a 21 day turn-around. I probably know the answer,but thought I'd ask you .If it would work,I could do a full 2.5 gallon batch and split it between 2 minis.TIA

[Dawg LB Steve]

Let me ask you this. I see lots of you keg your brews.I bottle mine and it's usually 49 days from grain to glass,or 1st pour. My question is ,if I ferment for 3 weeks,and feel that fermentation is over,can I carb the beer from a 5 liter mini-keg using co2 cartridges w/o using carbing sugar in the keg? This would give me a 21 day turn-around. I probably know the answer,but thought I'd ask you .If it would work,I could do a full 2.5 gallon batch and split it between 2 minis.TIA

Yes you can, but you want to carbonate it cold and might go thru a few cartridges to carbonate though. It is easier for the CO2 to be absorbed into the beer cold, it takes less pressure at colder temps ex. 12 lbs @ 40 deg, where as you would need 30 lbs @ 60 degrees. here is a link for the chart, http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php if you can carb and keep cold just pick up a picnic tap and there is no need to bottle. If you want to bottle from a keg, pressure needs to be around 4-5 lbs and I have used a bottling wand that fits right into the picnic tap and fill from the bottom up then cap on the foam (let foam come up to top and cap) this pushes any O2 out the neck and less chance of oxidizing.

[ScrewyBrewer]

Let me ask you this if I ferment for 3 weeks and feel that fermentation is over

I have to say that under typical circumstances your beer should be done fermenting in 10-14 days, at least all of mine are. That right there would shave a good week off of your kettle to glass time. Something to consider....

[jimjohson]

Keep your ABV to around 4% even an APA should be ready quick as a wheat

[FedoraDave]

Let me ask you this if I ferment for 3 weeks and feel that fermentation is over

I have to say that under typical circumstances your beer should be done fermenting in 10-14 days, at least all of mine are. That right there would shave a good week off of your kettle to glass time. Something to consider....

This is true, and while I typically ferment for 3 weeks myself, it's because of my carboy rotation. I brew every Sunday, and I have 3 carboys, so I bottle/keg on Saturday or Sunday morning, and then turn it around and fill that carboy with a new batch.

But I'm more intrigued by the phrase "feel that fermentation is over." Are you going by guess-and-by-golly, as my old man used to say? Or are you checking the specific gravity with a hydrometer to make sure fermentation is complete?